


Serendipity

by TheEigthPillarGeneral



Series: Black Moon [3]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Idols, M/M, Slow Romance, Songwriting, music industry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-04-03 19:36:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14003181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEigthPillarGeneral/pseuds/TheEigthPillarGeneral
Summary: While at an art gallery trying to get inspiration, Renji meets Byakuya, who is there for a fundraising event. The two go to get ramen and Byakuya finds that Renji is actually quite similar to Hisana.





	Serendipity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [junko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/junko/gifts), [Josey (cestus)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cestus/gifts).



> Here's the third instalment! I hope you enjoy!

_What the hell am I doing here again?_ Renji thought to himself as he glanced around at the various abstract paintings around him.

First of all, he felt severely out of place in this environment: the Karakura Art Gallery. Dressed in jeans, a black faded Nirvana T-shirt under a leather jacket, a maroon bandana covering his forehead tattoos, and his hair tied in a ponytail, Renji was not appropriately dressed compared to the other patrons in formal clothing. Secondly, why the hell was he at an art gallery, at the same time as a fundraiser? Because now the building was filled with rich people in fancy clothing, each one in groups gossiping about paintings and artists and so on.

It really didn’t help that a few of them were giving Renji dirty looks, as if his choice of clothing was somehow offensive to them. Jeez, he was just trying to write songs, he didn’t need any…

Ah. Right.

In the days following the meeting, Renji had been writing songs and building up on songs he’d already written. He’d also attempted co-writing songs with Hisagi and Chad last night, something that had turned out better than expected, actually. Today, Renji had decided to go somewhere else for writing, since a change of environment could probably do well for him.

Somehow, Renji had found himself in the Karakura Art Gallery to try and find inspiration for songs. However, it seemed that there was one of those rich people fundraiser events going on as well, hence the number of black ties and nice dresses he was seeing.

When another rich old man scrutinized Renji’s clothes and sneered at him, Renji decided to just sit down away from the crowd. It was getting a little bit tiring, really.

Moving to a bench underneath a painting of a red rose and a white lily (a painting that he liked), Renji pulled out his black wolf notebook and his favourite red pen before sitting down. He opened up his notebook and read through some of the lines of the most recent song he’d written.

_‘Light a fire to the fang that cannot be reached, so that I do not have to see that star, so that I do not have to slit his throat.’_

He’d put those lines under the title of ‘Stray Dog’, a song about how he strived to be worthy of those he cared about. But really, it had been written with Rukia in mind, just like ‘Gomi Tame’. After Rukia’s sister had gotten married, Renji and Rukia had to part ways, with Renji letting her go so she could have a better life. Since then, he’d always regretted doing that, and had since been striving to get better so that he could be a person of worth.

Turning to a blank page, Renji began writing some new fragments.

_‘Red like blood. White like bone. Red like solitude. White like silence. Red like the senses of a beast. White like the heart of a god…’_

Renji glanced up at the placard underneath the painting, which read, ‘Rosa Rubicundior, Lilio Candidior’.

‘Redder than the rose, whiter than the lily’, the Japanese translation read underneath.

Oddly enough, a fitting title. Renji wrote the Latin words at the top of the paper, feeling satisfied. He glanced up from his book to see someone rather familiar leaving the main gallery. When the man turned in his direction, Renji was surprised to see that it was Byakuya.

Likewise, Byakuya looked a little surprised to see Renji as well. Renji just smiled and got up from the bench.

“Yo, Kuchiki-san,” he greeted. “Didn’t know you were here.”

Byakuya blinked before nodding his head in greeting. “Likewise, Abarai,” he said, looking at his clothes. “What are you doing here?”

“Songwriting,” Renji said, shrugging. “Came here to get some inspiration. I mainly got dirty looks since I didn’t know there was a fundraising event going on.” He then looked at Byakuya, who was currently dressed in a navy-blue tuxedo.

He looked elegant and classy, every bit of the rich CEO that he was. And, judging from his outfit, he had been attending this event.

“You’re here for this fundraising event?” Renji asked casually.

“Indeed,” Byakuya said. “I only stepped out because I’ve had enough of it.” He frowned unpleasantly. “I hate these sort of functions. They’re so boring.”

Renji bit down on the inside of his cheek, trying not to smile or laugh. Hearing Byakuya say that this was ‘boring’ reminded him of a petulant teenager and it was oddly… cute. Unfitting, sure, but it was also pretty cute.

Byakuya glanced at Renji and his eyes narrowed. “And just what’s so funny about it?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Renji quickly said, putting his notebook into his backpack. “I was just thinking, I also hate those events. Wanna get outta here and do something fun?”

“That depends,” Byakuya said, raising an eyebrow. “Your ideas of ‘fun’ are probably very different from mine. So what do you have in mind?”

“Er, well… maybe get some ramen?” Renji asked, feeling a little bashful. “It’s almost lunchtime and I know a place near the museum we could go to.”

Byakuya’s eyes seemed to glint with amusement. “I don’t see why not,” he said as he followed Renji.

It was only a five-minute walk to the aforementioned ramen shop. When they reached, they sat down at the counter to give their orders. Renji simply said, “The usual,” while Byakuya requested Kitakata ramen. As they waited, Renji pulled out his notebook and pen and began writing a little bit more while Byakuya silently observed him.

“What are you writing about?” Byakuya asked.

“Just building on the song I started writing at the museum,” Renji said. “I gotta write stuff down before they disappear, ya know?”

Huh. He almost sounded like Hisana whenever she was writing her songs.

_“It’s best to write down what comes to mind! That way, I’ll be able to remember and create a nice song!”_

“You’re working on your new album?” Byakuya asked.

“Yup,” Renji said. “We’ve landed a concept and a name for the album, so now we all gotta write a bunch of songs. Then we’ll vote and see which songs will make it to the album, which will be released as singles or EPs, and which ones we won’t use at all.”

“A concept? What is it?”

“‘Reaching the moon’, ‘the dark side of the moon’, it’s a mix of both, really,” Renji explained.

A server stepped out from the kitchen with two bowls of ramen and placed them before Byakuya and Renji. As Byakuya broke apart his two chopsticks, he glanced over at Renji to see that he was eating Takayama ramen. Holding the spoon in one hand, Byakuya twirled some noodles onto his chopsticks before eating it, savouring the flavour of the soy-based broth.

“Interesting concepts,” Byakuya said after swallowing his noodles. “You seem excited about it.”

“Of course!” Renji said after eating a piece of pork. “It’s the first album I’m going to be recording. The last band I was in, we just broke up after four months, and we’d only done two singles at that point. This is my first entrance into Visual-Kei, actually.”

Byakuya nodded. “I see,” he mused. “Do you like songwriting and rock music?”

“Sure do,” Renji said, smiling wistfully. “I started playing guitar in my last year of middle school. Rukia and I used to listen to a lot of rock music, especially Visual-Kei. We tried to copy their makeups styles a lot, mainly X Japan. You should’ve seen Rukia back then! She looked awesome with so much eyeliner!” He then laughed. “Me, I tried copying the style of Zaraki Kenpachi. Sure, he wasn’t Visual-Kei, but his appearance was pretty awesome.”

Byakuya raised an eyebrow. “Zaraki Kenpachi?” he repeated. He’d heard of the man, alright. In his opinion, he was a real barbarian. Nearly all his songs were filled with screaming and growling, and he was so loud and aggressive in his music. Not to mention, his hairstyle was absolutely ridiculous.

“Yep! I couldn’t wear my hair up in spikes and bells, so I just wore a spiky ponytail instead. Ended up getting the nickname ‘Red Pineapple’ throughout middle school, but it was so worth it!” Renji said fondly before going back to his ramen.

The way Renji spoke, it was evident that he was passionate about music. Byakuya was reminded of Hisana and how passionate she was about making music as well. But it wasn’t just Hisana that Renji reminded him of; Byakuya was also reminded of how he’d once been.

After marrying Hisana, Byakuya had expressed interest in writing songs as well. Since he was skilled at the piano, he attempted to compose music to his lyrics, and he’d often try and help compose melodies for Hisana’s songs as well. Byakuya remembered those days when he and Hisana would sit together at his grand piano, singing Hisana’s lyrics to a melody that Byakuya had created. It had been so long since then. Byakuya missed those days when he could listen to Hisana’s sweet, crystal-like voice right next to him.

“Do you play any instruments?” Renji asked.

“Yes, actually,” Byakuya said. “I play the piano. And I’ve always been interested in music that wasn’t just Western classical or Enka.”

“Ever thought about becoming an artist?”

Byakuya glanced at him. “The thought has come occasionally, yes,” he said. “But I do not think that would be good for me.”

“Why not?” Renji asked.

“I’m… not really meant for the kind of life that you or other singers live,” he said.

That wasn’t the only reason, though. Byakuya didn’t think he could do something like that, as it felt wrong to try and pursue a career in the music industry after he’d essentially ruined Hisana’s career.

Hisana had been a J-pop idol since she was a teenager. As an idol, her job had been to sell dreams to her fans and audience. Hisana had used her sweet, ingénue-like appearance to become popular, along with pretty costumes, fun music, and a general sweetness that charmed so many people. Even when she became an adult, that charm of hers still lingered. But by contract, she could not date anyone and she had to maintain her image of a cute girl-next-door.

When Byakuya started dating her, it had been in secret. Byakuya was trying to avoid his family, who were disapproving of the J-pop scene, while Hisana was avoiding her very-strict record producer. Even though they’d gotten married in secret, they had been found out after two years. Hisana’s career had been nearly destroyed as she’d been dropped by her producer and humiliated in public. But that was where Byakuya had signed her under Senbonzakura Music in the hopes of saving a little bit of her career.

In spite of all that, however, Hisana had never been able to experience the same levels of popularity she used to. She still had some faithful fans, but it wasn’t the same. And after only three years, Hisana had passed away from appendicitis.

Sometimes, Byakuya blamed himself for Hisana’s career being ruined and her subsequent death. He’d tried to give better working conditions for her, since she’d often been forced to perform in less-than-ideal circumstances under her previous contract. Ultimately, Byakuya supposed, it was not just appendicitis that killed Hisana, but also the stress of being an idol since her teenage years.

“I guess that’s reasonable,” Renji said, interrupting Byakuya’s thoughts. “Being a celebrity can be tough.”

“Indeed,” Byakuya agreed.

“I mean, even the Visual-Kei scene has its low points,” Renji continued. “But I think the point of being an artist is because you like making music and wish to share it with the world, not because you’re hungry for fame or money.”

Byakuya looked at Renji in surprise as he listened to him speak.

“Sure, there are times when artists can burn out and all that,” Renji said. “But ultimately, we become artists because we’re passionate about our art. So, despite everything we face, we still continue because we love music so much.”

Again, Renji almost sounded like Hisana. She’d said something similar when Byakuya had asked why she felt so obligated to be under such a restrictive contract. Hisana had simply smiled and said that she did so because she loved singing and making music. The world was already bleak, so why not make it a little bit brighter? That was why.

To hear such similar words from Renji almost stunned Byakuya. However, it only reaffirmed the fact that he was truly an enigma. Not only was he shy offstage, he was also quite intuitive.

“I suppose you’re right,” Byakuya mused.

They continued eating their ramen in silence, both of them mulling over their thoughts. Renji glanced at Byakuya’s eyes for a moment out of curiosity and underneath the cool front, there was a lingering melancholy and sadness.

As he thought, Byakuya was haunted by something in his past. He was aware that Byakuya had married a pop idol and he couldn’t help but wonder how that had gone. Renji knew that the idol industry had some strict rules about dating and marriage (especially after speaking with Rangiku and Orihime), but just how much had it affected Byakuya’s life as well?

Before Renji could say anything, Byakuya stood up and placed some money on the counter. “I should get going,” he said, pulling out his cellphone to text his driver. “I have a meeting to prepare for.”

“I should go too,” Renji remembered. “Gotta pick up my motorcycle today.” After paying, Renji followed Byakuya out of the ramen shop.

“It was nice talking to you, Kuchiki-san,” Renji said, giving Byakuya a smile. “I’ll see you around?”

Byakuya nodded. “I’ll see you too, Abarai,” he said.

As Renji walked to the bus stop, he swore he felt Byakuya’s eyes linger upon him a little bit. And if he wasn’t mistaken, he almost felt that Byakuya was smiling a little.

**Author's Note:**

> Regarding Hisana's music career, it's true that idols aren't allowed to date or marry by contract. I read up about idol culture and that rule especially applies to AKB48. As for her being an idol since her teenage years, there are many idols who start their careers at 12 years of age. And if they're found to be dating or express a certain political view, then their careers could be destroyed.
> 
> As for the lyrics, they're from the Bleach volumes 'A Star and a Stray Dog' and 'Rosa Rubicundior, Lilio Candidior'.
> 
> Let me know how I did :) Have a good one!


End file.
